


In my head

by stellations



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 21:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5681695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellations/pseuds/stellations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set just after Helen's return from Egypt</p>
    </blockquote>





	In my head

**Author's Note:**

> Set just after Helen's return from Egypt

It could have been worse. The five years in Egypt with Nikola had done what she’d hoped they would: they’d helped her set her priorities straight and figure out what she needed to do and how to handle things again. The war was over and it was time to rebuild. 

She didn’t even bother trying to clean off fully, wanting to give the tousled third-class look another go. Having learned enough of how that felt when the _Titanic_ had sunk and she’d lived it, she thought she had a good grasp on what to do. So, with dirt and sand still sticking to her – granted not the exact same as she’d come out of the desert with – she approached the London Sanctuary and slipped inside. She hadn’t told him exactly when she would be returning, but it was the time of night that she knew where he would be. With a little luck, she could catch him in a decent mood and make the most of her return.

A search of their room yielded nothing, a surprise in and of itself. A frown creased her face. It wasn’t like him to deviate from his routine. Perhaps something had happened? She knew something was different or they wouldn’t have tried to contact her while she was so far away. That thought made her worry further. She couldn’t very well run around the Sanctuary like this and hadn’t intended to. If he didn’t show up after her bath, she would begin a search for him. 

Drawing the water, she removed her dirty clothes and settled in to soak. She hadn’t been in there for twenty minutes when a knock at the door sounded. 

“Darling?” 

His voice was calm and controlled as always, but she could hear the note of worry in his tone. She sat up a little straighter, her hair full of soap as she was in the middle of washing it. 

“Yes? There’s no need to remain on the other side of the door, James.”

There were no secrets between them, after all, only a five-year separation. She hoped it wouldn’t bring difficulties to their relationship. Well… more than had already existed. Her time in Egypt had been intended to smooth those over, at least in herself. 

He seemed to hesitate for a moment longer before he pushed the door open. 

“Darling?” She sat up even more, the water spilling off her shoulders like the hope from her body. 

He looked positively awful. His face was worn and tired, drawn as though he’d been ill recently. For one dizzying moment, she was afraid he would tell her he was dying. 

She ducked her head under the water to wash out the soap before she let the water out and got up. Droplets of water streamed from her body as she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself so as not to get him completely drenched as she made her way across the room towards him. 

“Darling, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer, simply reaching up to gently brush the backs of his fingers against her wet cheek. Another towel was spared to wrap her hair up in and once that was done, she wiped her hands off, placed them against his cheeks, and pulled him into a kiss. Wanting him to be well aware of how she felt, she held him close long after he broke the kiss and when he informed her that he’d fallen ill two years ago and hadn’t quite recovered, she practically clung to him. Wrapping her arms around his thin body – far too frail for her tastes – she refused to allow him to pull away from her. He’d needed help, a new invention, life support. That was why she'd been contacted, just as she’d resurfaced from her trip in Egypt. Someone else had found the tomb, so it was no longer necessary for her to keep searching. The five years spent buried under the sand seemed trivial in comparison to the idea that she might be losing her lover. She almost had lost him while she was gone and that idea haunted her.

She vowed then that she wouldn’t squander the time she had left with him. He needed her full attention and deserved it. After everything he’d done for her in her lifetime, the last thing she could do was help him adjust to this new point in his life.


End file.
